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`Strange' Is A Trip Worth Taking

Nick Show Captures The Alien Experience Of Growing Up

October 13, 1998|By Devin Rose.

If you haven't seen "The Journey of Allen Strange" on Nickelodeon, tune in; you'll trip out. The show really captures the wild ride of adolescence.

"Strange" takes you on the journey of Allen Strange, an alien (Alien, Allen, get it? Thought so.) who was accidentally separated from his "unit" during a refueling pit stop on Earth. Allen makes friends with 15-year-old Robbie and her 10-year-old brother, Josh. Together, the three maneuver the twists and turns of adolescence while trying to help Allen find his way home.

Series creator Tommy Lynch promised to delve into "kid-sensitive" issues this season. We caught up with Lynch recently for a chat.

Lynch dreamed up the show because "audiences at a younger age are look-ing for stuff that deals with their lives."

So viewers can relate to a show about an alien? Yep, Lynch said. For starters, every kid has felt alone and confused.

"There's an overriding theme of separation" on the show, Lynch said. "Allen is separated from his entire universe; Robbie feels separated from her family (her mom has moved out). We'll look at how Robbie deals with more freedom and with the whole idea of `I'm surrounded by a house of guys and an alien.' "

Speaking of guys, you'll love younger brother Josh. "He's really bright and he's not a geek," Lynch said. "His passion in life is, he wants to prove a government coverup. He's a kid of the Internet age."

The show's characters aren't in-your-dreams awesome like on, say, "Dawson's Creek"; they're just fun, cool kids. Lynch cares about being real with kids cuz he remembers his own weird childhood.

"The whole idea of Allen Strange came from my youth," he said. "I was 13 and I left my home and lived in a garage. Nobody really ever missed me." When pressed for details, Lynch said with a laugh, "I'm from a single-parent family; there's eight siblings in my family."

The guy has a sense of humor about tough times, for sure. In fact, that's what makes "Allen Strange" work. Just when things start getting dark, some special effect zaps the screen to provide comic relief.

But seriously, when asked to sum up the show's main message, Lynch said: "Everybody has a place in this universe. Everybody has a destiny to fulfill."